Chimps and other primates have been documented performing oral sex. Same reasons as humans: because it feels good. Although the bonobos also use sexual play as part of dominance/heirarchy establishment.

ETA: You can probably find online videos (not those kind of videos! I mean documentaries) about chimps. Wiki link about Bonobos (no x-rated ape footage included). Also from Wiki:

Quote:

Auto-fellatio or oral sex in animals is documented in goats, primates, hyaenas and sheep.

I read somewhere that there are only two species that seem to enjoy sex for the sake of having sex (as opposed to just procreate): Dolphins and Humans

It's probably more accurate to say that humans are the only animals who have sex to procreate, as opposed to having sex just because they want to have sex.

For non-human animals, they have sex because they have this urge to have sex--it's an itch they have to scratch--and presumably it's pleasurable (in a purely sensual way) for them to scratch that itch. And then, however many months later, boom, the female has a litter of babies. I doubt any non-human animal is capable of thinking at a high enough level (in terms of things like having a consciousness of the passage of time and the possibility of future events) to connect the two events. Thus, only humans are capable in principle of saying "Of course I don't even enjoy this, but I shall lie back and think of England and so do my duty to produce strong healthy babies for the good of our society". (Of course, I'm sure the reality is that most human sex is engaged in for reasons of pleasure as well.)

Now, it's true that animals evolved to find sex pleasurable because animals that found sex pleasurable had more babies (who would likely carry the "sex=fun" gene), whereas animals who preferred to just lounge around the jungle and play pinochle or something tended not to have many babies, thus dooming the "sex=meh" gene to extinction. So, in an indirect way, animals have sex in order to procreate. But no individual animal other than humans is actually capable of wanting to have sex in order to have babies on an individual, volitional level.

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"In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves." -- Carl Sagan

It's probably more accurate to say that humans are the only animals who have sex to procreate, as opposed to having sex just because they want to have sex.

Well...yes and no.

I mean to say humans and dolphins seem to be the only ones who engage in sex for purely recreational purposes (I have looked for cites and found some that repeat that but none I consider worthy of a cite here...so Bonobos may be in the picture too).

Non-human animals on the other hand, while apparently finding sex enjoyable, do not seem to generally fornicate for fun. Their drive to have sex is to procreate even if they do not consciously know it (hmm...there is always the dog humping your leg phenomena).

So sure humans "know" to have sex to make babies where other animals don't but other animals are doing it for the primary purpose of procreation even if they have no clue why they are driven to do what they do.

__________________
"Starfleet captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. But the secret is to give them only what they need, not what they want."~~Montgomery Scott

So sure humans "know" to have sex to make babies where other animals don't but other animals are doing it for the primary purpose of procreation even if they have no clue why they are driven to do what they do.

You could make the same argument for humans, too, since our own sex drive has the same evolutionary origin. The primary purpose of our sex drive (insofar as you can ascribe such a thing as a "purpose" to any aspect of evolution) is procreation, but that sex drive also results in behaviors that do not directly achieve the end of procreation, e.g., oral sex. This is apparently the case for some other species as well, so we're nothing special there.

But as far as we know we're the only animal on this planet that makes the "sex -> procreation" link intellectually and is capable of reasoning based on that implication. Thus, we're the only animal capable of deciding to have sex for purposes of procreation only.

I mean to say humans and dolphins seem to be the only ones who engage in sex for purely recreational purposes (I have looked for cites and found some that repeat that but none I consider worthy of a cite here...so Bonobos may be in the picture too).

Non-human animals on the other hand, while apparently finding sex enjoyable, do not seem to generally fornicate for fun. Their drive to have sex is to procreate even if they do not consciously know it (hmm...there is always the dog humping your leg phenomena).

So sure humans "know" to have sex to make babies where other animals don't but other animals are doing it for the primary purpose of procreation even if they have no clue why they are driven to do what they do.

What does it even mean to say that dolphins/bonobos/whatevers have sex for purely recreational purposes as opposed to other animals? They're all doing it out of horny urges and for physical pleasure, without any knowledge of the effects. So what's the difference?

Just because a factoid is widely repeated doesn't mean there's any merit to it. In the words of our Master, "Scientifically speaking, animals always do it for fun. The only critters who do it because they have to are Catholics."

Last edited by Indistinguishable; 07-14-2009 at 06:38 PM..
Reason: Yes, the joke's already been referenced

I had heard that female bonobos will perform in exchange for food. I saw an episode of Manswers that said that the answer to the question of "what animals have sex for money" [paraphrasing from memory, as I can only tolerate that show for about 5 minutes at a time.] is chimpanzees.

What does it even mean to say that dolphins/bonobos/whatevers have sex for purely recreational purposes as opposed to other animals? They're all doing it out of horny urges and for physical pleasure, without any knowledge of the effects. So what's the difference?

Just because a factoid is widely repeated doesn't mean there's any merit to it. In the words of our Master, "Scientifically speaking, animals always do it for fun. The only critters who do it because they have to are Catholics."

The root of that factoid is that only dolphins and humans (and probably a few others) have concealed fertility. In other mammal species, ovulation is accompanied by some big external signal, and it's only during these periods of estrus or "heat" that females are sexually receptive. And, correspondingly, males usually don't bother trying to have sex with females that aren't in heat, because on some level they know that it won't get anything done.

Now, in humans and dolphins, there aren't any clear external cues of when a female is ovulating and fertile. Still, the period of fertility is a relatively small fraction of time -- a week or so per month in humans. Dolphins have a vaguely similar cycle, ovulating randomly a few times during the breeding season. The statement "dolphins and humans have sex for fun" is a crude oversimplification, perhaps better stated as "dolphins and humans have sex constantly, even though they're only fertile for a small fraction of the time".

Bonobos do constantly have sex, but according to Wiki the females are in heat pretty much constantly. Still, as other posters have mentioned, they have a lot of sex that certainly isn't for reproduction.

I read somewhere that there are only two species that seem to enjoy sex for the sake of having sex (as opposed to just procreate): Dolphins and Humans

There is not much call for cunnilingus/fellatio just to procreate (that is wham, bam you're outta there). Those things are done for fun.

Don't watch much Discovery Channel, huh? There are animals with mating/courtship rituals that take weeks. It's not out of the question that oral stimulation of the genitalia could be involved, though we'll have to wait for Colibri to show up and tell us which animal actually does that.

Yeah, I got that email forward a long time ago, too, and thought it was hysterical, and chimed in here to say what MEBuckner said, but not as well.

MEBuckner, I salute you.

I think it'd be closer to reality to say that humans are the only creatures who abstain from sex for the sake of enjoyment of sex. We love it, so it must not be good and holy, so we don't do it. I dunno about dolphins on that ground, although I doubt they're that twisted

I dunno. The pronunciation you've given is boh-noh-boh, the same vowel in each syllable, stress unspecified. However, the pronunciation I am accustomed to, and supported by dictionaries, is buh-noh-boh, with a schwa in the first syllable, and the second syllable stressed.

Alternative, erroneous possibilities include bah-nuh-boh, buh-nah-boh, and so on.

BON-nuh-boe or BONE-uh-boe would be reasonable, too. It's not completely obvious which way it should be pronounced. For example, "Kokomo" (same consonant and vowel pattern--in fact, same exact vowels) is "KOE-kuh-moe" not "kuh-KOE-moe."